20 Best Work Outs To Get Your Biceps & Triceps In Shape

Nowadays, a lot of people have become fitness freaks and a lot of them hit the gym regularly to get a good muscular shape. People usually start their workout with pushups or cardio before starting their gym sessions and end up lifting some heavyweights. At the end of the day, they see what their dedication brings in their body. Guys mainly target on biceps and triceps, apart from the chest when it comes to bodybuilding.

Triceps are made up of three heads, which is how they get their name. Triceps take a good large portion of your arm and it takes a lot of hard work to build these. Many want to get the “horseshoe” shape in their triceps, and one can achieve this by working out seriously followed by a good protein and nutritional diet. All three heads of the triceps originate in different places, but they all end up in the elbow.

As discussed, many people try various gym exercises to get their desired biceps and triceps, so we have 20 best ways that can help building you a strong, muscular and mass-full biceps and triceps:

1. Pushup Position Hammer Curl

Take a pair of dumbbells and position your body in a push-up position with your palms facing each other. Keep your upper arm stiff and bring the dumbbell from ground to right shoulder. After doing it for the right arm, repeat the same for the left. Add weights after some days and keep doing it for 30-60 seconds but don’t try to speed this workout.

2. Incline Dumbbell Curls

Sit on an inclined bench with two dumbbells in your hands, at arm’s length. Keep your elbows close to your body and your palms facing forward. Make sure your elbow is the only thing you move. You are contracting your biceps and curling the weights forward. Breathe out while you lift in upwards direction and breathe in as you bring down the dumbbells back. When you are pushing the dumbbell upwards, hold down for a second and bring them back to the normal place.

3. Chin Up Pull Ups

With a shoulder-width grip, grasp the bar using your perfect grip. Brace your abs and squeeze your glutes and take a deep breath. While activating the lats, press down the shoulder blades and then drive the elbows straight down to the floor and pull your chin towards the bar upwards until the lats are fully contracted. Slowly lower yourself back to the start position and keep on repeating to get better results.

4. Seated Triceps Press

Sit on a bench and take a single dumbbell in both of your hands and hold it over your head with your arms outstretched which will let you support your back. Keep your arms close to your head with your elbows inside, perpendicular to the floor. While you inhale, lower the dumbbell behind your head in a semi-circular movement until your forearms connect with your biceps. Breathe out and raise the dumbbell to its starting position. While performing this workout, make sure your back is straight and arched as well as perform it slowly and safely.

5. Barbell Curls

Stand with a barbell in your hands at shoulder width and with your back straight. Your palms should be facing forward and your elbows should be close to your body. Lift the barbell contracting your biceps and move only your forearms while breathing out. To contract biceps completely, lift the barbell into a curl. Then hold the position for a second and squeeze your biceps. Bring the bar down and breathe in.

6. Close Grip Lat

Sit straight on the lat pulldown machine and attach a wide grip handle on it. Grasp the handle with inner palm position at shoulder width. While extending the shoulder, initiate the movement by depressing the shoulder blades and then flexing the elbow. With the torso, pull the handle downwards to your body till the elbow line bring back to the starting point by slowly lowering the handle back.

7. Bench Dip

To do a dip during your workout, lock your arms and position yourself on a dip machine. Bend your knees, interlock your legs and begin slowly taking your body downwards without leaning forward with your upper body. Inhale while lowering your body downwards and squeeze your triceps and shoulders to pull the body upwards in the form of 90-degree angle while exhaling. Contract to your chest, shoulder and arm muscles as hard as you can and hold for one count and start repeating again.

8. Preacher Curls

Find a preacher bench and get an EZ curl bar and hold the ends of the handle. To adjust the bar’s shape, keep your palms facing forwards, and they should be tilt just a bit inward. Your upper arms need to be placed on the preacher bench pad, as well as your chest. At shoulder length, keep E-Z curl bar in your hands, and this should be your starting point. Your biceps should be completely stretched, and your arms are fully straight when lower the bar. When you lower the bar, you should breathe in. Squeeze your biceps and hold until they are completely contracted, and the bar is positioned at shoulder height.

9. Standing Palms-Up Barbell Behind The Back Wrist Curl

Stand with a straight and arched back and place barbell behind your glutes at arm’s length. You will need to use a pronated grip, and your hands should be apart at shoulder width, look straight with your feet at shoulder width as well. Exhale and with a little curl in your wrist, lift the barbell make a semi-circular movement upwards. Hold the contraction for a second, then inhale and lower the barbell to its starting position.

10. Lying Dumbbell Triceps Extensions

Lie down on a flat bench and get dumbbells of your desired weight in your hands. Your arms should be fully stretched and parallel to your body. Your palms should be facing in each other, and they should be tucked in. With your first breath in, bring the dumbbells near to the sides of the head and not moving below the elbow line. To bring it to the starting point, bring out and pull the dumbbells in an upward direction.

11. Seated Cable Row

Keeping your back straight, feet on the front of low pulley row machine with a V-bar, making sure that your knees are not locked but slightly bend. Grab the V-bar and keep your arms extended and pull back your upper body or torso making a right angle with your legs. Keeping your lower body slightly arched, relaxed shoulders and chest out, this should be the actual position for this workout. Pull the V-bar handles back with a stiff and motionless torso. Pull the V-bar until your thumbs touch your abs, squeeze your back muscles, keep your arms close to your body and breathe out. Slowly release the contraction and go back to starting position. Before going to start position, hold that pose for a second.

12. Triceps Pushdown

Get a rope, a straight bar or an angled one and attach to a high pulley. Take it with an overhand grip with your palms facing down and your back should be straight with a slightly leaned forward. Your grip should be as wide as your shoulders, and your upper arms should be close to your torso, at a 90-degree angle. While your forearms pointing upwards towards the pulley, holding the rope fro a second. As you breathe out, pull the rope downwards with your triceps until it touches your thighs and your arms are completely stretched at a 90-degree angle to the floor. Hold the position for a second and breathe in while you bring the rope back to its starting position.

13. Reverse Barbell Curls

Stand with a straight back and hold a barbell at shoulder width, and your elbows close to your body. Your palms should be facing down for a pronated grip. Curl the weights and contract your biceps while breathing out by keeping your upper arms stiff. Your forearms are the only ones that should move in this whole workout. Keep doing the movement until your biceps are completely contracted, and the bar is at shoulder height. Squeeze your biceps, hold the position for a second and breathe in slowly to put the bar back down to its normal position.

14. Low Cable Triceps Extensions

Choose your desired weight and lay down on the bench of a seated row machine with a rope. Place your head exactly on the side of the machine. Hold the ends of the rope with your palms facing each other in a neutral grip. Keep your forearms perpendicular to your upper arms with about your torso. Breathe out and extend your lower arms until they are completely straight. With only your forearms moving, your upper arms and elbows should be stiff throughout the workout. Contract your triceps, breathe in and return to the starting position, when you reach the peak of the movement.

15. Diamond Press Up

Get into the push-up position and place your hand in such a way that your index fingers and thumbs make a shape of a diamond. Depending upon the flexibility of your thumbs it might look like a triangle. Keep your elbow close to your body and form a standard push-up position by lifting your legs up. Until your chest reaches the ground, keep the core braces and elbows lower. Keep your elbows close to your body while you bring your body to the starting position.

16. Hammer Curls

Stand with a straight back and a dumbbell in each of your palms, at arm’s length. Your elbows should be close to your body, but not packed in. Exhale and lift the weight in a curl while contracting your biceps and keep lifting it until it’s fully contracted, keeping your upper arm stiff. At this point, the dumbbells should be lifted at shoulder height and should keep this position for a second. Squeeze your biceps and hold for a second. Inhale and lower the dumbbells down back to the starting position.

17. Seated Palms-Down Barbell Wrist Curl

Take a barbell in both of your hands and the position of your palms should be facing downwards. Your hands should be positioned at shoulder width and your feet should be a bit wider and flat on the floor. Lean forward and put your forearms on your upper thighs and Hold the bar tightly. Deep breath and lower the bar as quickly as possible. Then, curl the weight up as high as possible while flexing your forearms, which should still be positioned on your thighs without moving. Hold the contraction for a second and go back to the starting position.

18. Bent-Over Barbell Row

Hold a barbell with palms facing downwards, bend your knees a bit and bring your torso forward. While keeping the back straight, bending the waist and head up, bring your barbell in front of you. Perpendicular to your torso and floor, your arms should be in your exact position. Lift the barbell to you by keeping your torso stiff and breath out. Hold the weight by using your forearms and keep your elbows close to the body. Squeeze the back muscles as hard as you can and hold it for few seconds for top contraction. After holding for few seconds, lower the barbell to the back to the starting position by inhaling.

19. Spider Curls

Begin this workout by keeping the bar on the side of preacher bench. Then, lie on the bench, where you would usually put your arms and lay on your stomach at 45 degrees. Your upper arms need to be on top of the preacher bench and your feet and most importantly your toes should be well positioned on the floor. Then take the barbell or dumbbells while holding a supinated grip with your palms upwards and keep your arms wide as your shoulders or a slightly closer. Lift and exhale, squeeze your biceps and hold for a second, and breathing in to bring the dumbbells down.

20. Inclined Neck Press

Adjust the bench between 15 and 30 degrees in an inclined position and lie on it. With the palm facing away from you, wrap your fingers around the bar with a shoulder-width grip. Lift the bar upwards from the rack and with the arms locked, hold it straight. Bring the bar slowly downward till an inch away from your chest and while you perform this, make sure you breathe in. Tucked into your sides, your arms should be at a 45-degree and hold that position and push back to your starting point as you exhale. Slowly come down after you lock your arms and hold it for a second.

Conclusion

With this stunning workout, you will be well on your way to creating the perfect arms. All you need to do is keep both your biceps and triceps under sufficient intensity which will, in turn, provide stress on the muscle, which will create micro-tears in the tissue and make your muscle growth. Also, you will need to keep a quick pace in your exercises – don’t let your arms rest and they will be magnificent!

Everyone needs to realize that they’ve been training their arms a lot every single week without specifically performing arm work. When you do a pressing movement, you use your triceps, but the same is valid for your biceps as well. This is crucial to remember in your quest for well-developed arms!